On Saturday, fans at Huskie Stadium caught a glimpse of what might be ahead for NIU as quarterback Jordan Lynch completed 29 of 44 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns in the annual spring game.

"You'll see a lot of things that don't miss a step," NIU coach Dave Doeren said after the Red team prevailed 31-6. "As a runner, he might be better (than Harnish). He threw the ball down the field well. I think Chandler was an extremely good pressure quarterback. To me, that's what made him the best in NIU history.

"The way he played in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line was what made Chandler Harnish so special to me. Until Jordan is in that position, we won't know. But I think the stuff we've asked him to do so far ... he has handled it really well."

Harnish, the MVP in the league last season, is projected to be selected somewhere between the fifth and seventh rounds of the NFL draft.

"Chandler wasn't greedy with the ball at all," Lynch said. "He didn't throw a lot of deep balls; he didn't take a lot of risks. A lot of things that people don't know about playing quarterback is your first two looks … and then check down. And that's one thing I think I can get better at is with the check-downs. That's one thing Chandler taught me a lot."

The White squad scored on a pair of field goals by Tyler Wedel from 32 and 41 yards. Safety Rasheen Lemon, a redshirt freshman from Proviso West, had a first-half interception and returned it 22 yards.

Mathew Sims kicked a 41-yard field goal for the Red team in the third quarter.

Lynch's second interception came in the fourth quarter when a tipped pass wound up in the hands of defensive lineman Ryan Gorrell.

"I was a little inaccurate at times," Lynch said.

Extra point: The ground-breaking ceremony for the Chessick Practice Center adjacent to Huskie Stadium took place Saturday morning. "It's a huge step from a developmental standpoint of our program," said Doeren, who welcomed more than 150 football recruits Saturday.